


A Light In The Crack

by WinterAssets



Series: Badlands Inspired Verse [4]
Category: Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four (Movies 2005-2007), Fantastic Four (Movies)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mild Smut, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Reader-Insert, Reader-Interactive
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-20
Updated: 2015-11-20
Packaged: 2018-05-02 12:27:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5248253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinterAssets/pseuds/WinterAssets
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>His hand drops back down to his side and he looks hurt, like someone has kicked him hard and pushed him down. There’s a certain wounded look that passes over his face and for a second you swear you see the flashing of fear running over his face. He wants to run. He’s humiliated that someone doesn’t want him. That his own soulmate doesn’t want him.</i>
</p>
<p>OR</p>
<p>The one where Johnny Storm has a soulmate Omega out there and it's not until after he gains his super powers that his body realizes it. Ashamed and hurt Johnny who thinks he's a defective alpha and a comforting omega who has no clue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Light In The Crack

Johnny  _loves_  being an Alpha.

He presented when he was sixteen, a little late as far as alphas go, but he was perfectly fine with it. Sue presented as a Beta at fourteen, and Johnny had never known the difference until he actually presented. Once he presented, things changed; the air was heavier whenever he went to school, there was a soft passing of scents whenever a girl moved past him, her eyes darting back to watch his blue ones trail her. Johnny entered the gauntlet that came with the whole territory and it was something that he steps up and takes the challenge on, even now.

Johnny can’t even recall how many fights he’s gotten in just because he’s the hot headed alpha and he won’t back down. He can’t count how many times he’s gotten himself punched in the face sticking up for Sue, or how many times he’s had his nose broken because he can’t keep his mouth shut. Johnny’s a hot head and he’s always been that way; but he’s also always been that one who fights for what he can’t avoid, for what he really think is there to fight for.

He’s not oblivious to Omegas, either. He knows their sweet scent anywhere and the bedroom eyes they shoot him; he knows when the air gets heavier that there’s pheromones acting up and his own are going to in response. It’s all biological and scientific, and as much as he hates to admit it, he loves the rush it brings through his veins. There’s nothing like being with an Omega, working their way through a heat, feeling your knot swell and knowing that you’ve done your job to satisfy them, to see that satisfaction slip onto their features as your knot slowly comes down from it all.

There’s nothing like an Omega, there’s nothing like sex as an alpha, and there’s nothing like being an alpha when you’re Johnny storm. No one cares about the fact that you’re a loud mouth, that you’ve done so much and annoyed so many people with your arrogant mouth; you’re a high society alpha and that’s all that matters.

You’re everything the world could ever want, you’re the adoration of every omega who walks by and attempts to sniff at your scent – they want your teeth, your bond, but you have the power over them to deny them. You’re always supposed to know who your mate is anyway, so what’s the harm in playing some games and letting everything loose?

Yes, Johnny loves being an alpha. He loves the power that comes with it, loves being the highest in society, loves the sex, loves everything about it.

Or at least, he  _loved_  being an alpha. That all changed after that trip to space, after his molecules changed and he could spontaneously catch fire.

* * *

It started off as something simple that Johnny chalked up to being tired. They had just discovered about their powers and everything was a little too exciting and crazy, and it tends to wear a guy out. The party had been killer and his joints were already killing him, his head completely fuzzy and blissed out thanks to the beer that seemed to just keep coming. The girl was hot, was hanging off of him all night and happily buying him shots even when he put his own card forward. She told him it was on her for saving the city and he grinned like a fucking idiot because  _yeah_ , Johnny could get used to this.

Things spilled over and they were going back to her place; Johnny wasn’t dumb enough to take someone back to the tower even when he was pretty lit. They had stumbled into her bedroom with wide grins and Johnny was starting to really think that he could get behind this whole saving the world thing. He could scent her, could smell the beta on her, and it was something that was bitter sweet. He was so used to omegas and what they could do for him, but he could easily take a beta, especially when she leans up and whispers in his ear that she has a knot fettish.

Johnny’s gone then; it’s all a blur of teeth knocking together roughly and clothes coming off. His fingers dig into her wrist and they’re both lost to the pleasure, her sounds and his mixing beautifully in the low class room. He can see a cigarette pack and empty vodka bottles in the corner, and it sends a small thrill through him as he leans down and kisses her like he cares. She merely smiles against his lips and rolls her hips up, begging him for his alpha nature as Johnny holds back a whimper in the back of his throat, feeling that familiar tightening in his lower stomach as he thrusts grow sloppy.

When he comes it’s not as good as usual; he feels too tight and high strung still, like his energy hasn’t seeped out. He lets his body pull back from the girl, and it’s then that he notices that she’s staring at him unimpressed and looking as if she should’ve chosen something better.

“What?” His voice is breathless and confused, and he can’t catch up with the situation as his inebriated brain sloshes unevenly inside of his skull.

She frowns at him and sits up, her eyes pointedly glancing down and red lipstick smeared on her face. He thinks she kind of looks like a horror film star in that moment and has to bite his lip to hold back his laughter. “Nice going, limp knot.”

Johnny’s eyebrows scrunch together in confusion before he looks down, and horror washes over his body, the alpha in him going into panic mode immediately. It makes sense then why he’s so high strung, why the orgasm wasn’t everything it normally was.

He hadn’t knotted.

* * *

The situation leaves Johnny off his game for at least a week and his mind not working properly. He keeps going back to that moment, keeps trying to rationalize it. It’s not because she wasn’t an omega because as an alpha he should be able to knot whenever he wants to.  _That’s_  the whole pleasure of even being with an alpha, what the whole craze is about. As an alpha it makes the orgasm complete, makes everything flow from him like he just received the best massage in the world, like he doesn’t have to worry about falling out of the sky or trying to save the world.

He knows it could be because he was drunk, but it also makes no sense to him; he’s always been able to do it before. It just doesn’t settle well with him and it starts to eat at him; is he a defective alpha now?

Before all of this when he was riding dirt bikes and getting off on fast cars, he knows that he could knot whenever he wanted to. It left him feeling nervous and biting his lip; how in the hell had things changed? He had never had a problem in the bedroom before, and it has him holed up and biting at his lip for a good three hours each day while the team does nothing but watch on.

Sue’s worried; he can see it in her eyes, but he can’t bring himself to have that conversation with his sister, especially if it’s about being a defective alpha. That’s the last thing he needs, especially given the relationship she’s in. Reed and Ben are both alphas, and she often rolls her eyes and thanks her lucky stars that she’s not one, and that she isn’t an omega. Johnny’s glad too – he doesn’t know how many people he can punch in the face with a flaming fist before he’s put in jail.

Johnny makes an appointment the week after, nerve wrecked and fearing the worse. His exam checks out fine and Johnny’s left a little in the wind, feeling more pent up than ever. He flies around the entire city at least ten times that night, and even when he touches down he’s not calm. Everything feels off and wrong, and he watches as the flame flickers out on his hand with dread settling into his stomach.

Johnny goes out the next night and allows himself to get a few drinks in him, but nothing too extravagant. He takes the girl back to the tower, this time an omega. They get hot and heavy. He goes on with this for another week, each night bringing a new girl back an getting a disapproving glare from Reed; he’s never been so reckless and whoring himself out before. By the end of the week, Johnny is quietly sitting on the couch with his face buried in his hands.

Five omegas in a week, and his knot couldn’t even get interested, let alone get half hard. Johnny knows something’s wrong, knows logically that he can’t keep doing this, can’t keep hearing the insults or seeing the wounded look in the omegas’ eyes when he can’t knot. He wants to tell them that it’s him and not them, but that sounds entirely too cliché so he just keeps his mouth shut. It leaves him hallow and debating contacting another doctor, one in a different city who’s suppose to know everything there is to know about the culture. But he doesn’t; it’s still admitting defeat and that he’s defective, and he can’t bring himself to do it.

He knows he has a scientist on hand, one that knows everything about him, about his powers, everything. But he can’t bring himself to rely on Reed; he can’t bring up the condition to another alpha. It’s more demeaning than anything in the world, and Johnny feels his heart start to sink. He can’t do this, can’t admit defeat, but he can’t keep having wayward sex either and feeling nothing.

Johnny doesn’t tell anyone; he merely lays there in his room and stares at the ceiling, trying desperately to think of a solution that doesn’t involve actually  _involving_ anyone.

* * *

He doesn’t go out of the tower for a month. Outside of team meetings and food breaks, the team rarely sees Johnny. He’s illusive and tries to duck around corners. He doesn’t sit in the living room and watch the X Games. He just lays in his bed, curled up with his blankets up to his chin, and even then he still feels cold. There’s something wrong; he can feel it.

Sue’s worried and he knows that; she comes around every day and tries to figure out what’s wrong, but he won’t budge. He just says that everything’s fine and turns over again, and Sue gets so frustrated because she  _knows_  her brother and  _knows_  that something is wrong with him. She considers asking Reed for advice, but she knows that he’s not all that close with his brother in law. She debates asking Ben to talk to him, but she’s not sure if that’s the right move either. She’s never seen him like this before; he’s down and depressed, and even when his powers were waning and freaking out, he hadn’t gotten this down in the dumps.

Sue goes through a mental list in her mind, trying desperately to figure out what’s going on with everything. She even scents the room and tries to read his alpha scent, tries to see if something is wrong. Her beta nose is no match for an alpha or omega’s, but she can still smell the distress coming off of him in waves. Sue moves through a mental list of women that have come and gone in his life, to see if there’s some form of break up that could’ve effected him like this. But there’s nothing there, and that’s when the realization hits her.

Johnny hasn’t brought anyone home in well over a month. It’s been around three if she’s counting right, and that makes her brows furrow together in confusion. If there’s anything that Johnny loves more than sports and his powers, it’s sex and women. She knows that, Reed knows that, hell, the whole  _world_  knows that. It makes an anxious bubble rise up in her stomach, and her hand rests on the door as she pulls in a deep breath.

Something’s wrong with Johnny and she has no clue what, but she wants to kill what’s made him this way.

* * *

Two more weeks go by and even Ben admits to the team that he’s worried about Johnny. He agrees to go talk to him, but a nervousness runs through his body at the thought of talking to the younger alpha. There’s something off about his scent, something that both Reed and him agreed to keep from Sue. His scent’s gone rough around the edges and is fading quickly; Ben used to be able to scent the young alpha from down the block. Now he’s lucky if he can scent him when he’s in front of the door. It leaves a hollow feeling in him; as much as they tussle and fight, Johnny is his friend and something’s wrong.

He knocks heavily on the door and for a moment is surprised that it doesn’t dent in or break, but then remembers that they’ve rebuilt the doors to accommodate the new situation. “Kid, open up.”

“Go away,” it’s muffled and Ben almost misses it, but it’s there. It’s Johnny, and a Johnny that sounds like he’s the most miserable he’s ever been. Something in Ben lurches, and he opens the door without asking. To his surprise, it’s unlocked, and he shuts it quietly behind him as he stares at the lump hidden underneath the dark blue covers. “I said go away.”

Johnny’s voice is still quiet and Ben tries to scent the air. He can barely smell Johnny and a slight horror fills his body. Walking up to the bed, he pulls the blanket away from Johnny’s face. He’s got a nice support of a beard going on, but there’s nothing but hopelessness in his eyes. He stares blankly at the wall and his fingers are gripped on the sheet below him. He looks uneasy, nervous, like he should flee at any moment. This is nothing like the loudmouth alpha that the entire world knows.

“You look like shit,” is the first thing that comes out of Ben’s mouth, and Johnny actually has to laugh at that.

“Yeah, thanks. I pretty much figured so.” That wasn’t Johnny – he would always fight back and have a comeback. But this alpha before him just lays there quietly, his fingers fidgeting unevenly as he pulls in a shaky breath. His eyes are rimmed red around the edges, and Ben knows that something’s seriously wrong now. Johnny never cries.

“What’s going on with you? I can barely even smell you. You haven’t been out of here in over a month,” Ben lets out a slow breath before he sighs. “You haven’t even brought anyone home. What the hell happened to you?”

Johnny’s tired; he’s so fed up and tired of keeping this in to himself. It makes his stomach twist and his heart hurt, and his head’s already killing him from crying. There’s a lump of tissues on the floor, and it makes his body twist nervously. Biting down on his lip, he decides he’s done – he’s tapping out. “I can’t knot.”

“You can’t….knot.” Ben’s voice is confused and surprised at the same time. He’s never heard of this before, and for it to be happening to Johnny is an even bigger confusion.

“I used to be able to. Before this whole superhero thing I could knot like anyone else. Now I’m lucky if I can even get it half hard and raring to go. I’m defective man; doc said nothing’s wrong with me, so I guess that’s the only option left.” Johnny sounds small and he tucks his knees closer to his chest. There’s pain coming off in his faint scent, and Ben can feel his entire body feeling for the alpha below him on the bed.

“Johnny, you need to get out of here. Things’ll work out – you’re not defective. But you’re not going to become ‘effective’ by just staying in here and not coming out to the world. You should go to one of those bike events that you like. You never miss them when they’re in town. I’m sure they’re waiting for you.” Ben let out a soft sigh and gingerly tugs at the blankets, moving them off of Johnny’s body fully. The younger alpha rolls onto his back and stares up at his friend, nothing but desperation and hopelessness written on his face. Ben gives him a small smile and lightly taps his face with his hand. “Go, seriously. Get yourself cleaned up and go out. You never know; maybe your knot’s just tired of you fucking every girl in town.”

Johnny rolls his eyes and gets up, throwing a tissue at Ben’s head on his way to the bathroom.

* * *

The arena is buzzing with adrenaline, an excitement flowing through everything as engines rev behind entrances. Dirt and motor oil is thick in the air, mixed with gasoline, and normally this is Johnny’s heaven. This is where he’s the most at peace, the most where he fits in. But as he tries desperately to blend into the crowd with a cup of beer held in a plastic cup, he starts to think that this was a horrible idea.

Anxiety bubbles up in his stomach; there’s so many people in the arena and there’s a nervous thought running through his mind. Everyone looks like they’re staring at him, like they know what’s wrong with him. It makes him nervous and makes him bite at his lip; he needs to get out of here and into the fresh air. He needs to run away and flame on and just  _leave_  before anyone realizes how defective he is.

He’s not paying attention to realize what’s going on around him; his chest is starting to ache and his breath catches in his throat. A sudden jolt to his right side makes him gasp out, his beer threatening to spill but he grabs it just in time. A girl pushes past him and then turns back, a frown on her face as she cradles her own cup of beer to her chest.

“Watch where the fuck you’re going!” Her voice is sharp and loud, cutting through the chatter that moves through the arena.

He goes half hard at the sight of her as the scent of vanilla and sandalwood wafts through the air. She gives him a half cocked eyebrow and is a challenging one, but Johnny can merely gape like a fish. A satisfied smirk moves onto her face and she pushes back into the crowd, leaving Johnny to stare after her trail, her scent stuck in his mind and his pants are growing to an uncomfortable level.

His heart jolts though as his eyes glance down; he can feel his knot hardening as well.

For the first time in over a month, Johnny Storm cracks a real smile.

* * *

Johnny tries to focus on the bikes but he can’t get her scent out of his mind. It keeps rolling around and around, along with entirely too many thoughts that make his cheeks go red and make him sink down further in the seat he’s sitting in. His head hurts even more and he can’t even drink his beer; everything makes him sick and there’s just this lurching feeling that he needs to find you. He doesn’t know if it’s because of how you had treated him or for the fact that you made him half hard instantly, and you hadn’t even touched him. Either way, his knot hasn’t gone down, and there’s a certain giddiness that slips through his veins.

He needs to find you, that much he knows. If he doesn’t, he thinks he’s going to freak out and that’s something that the Human Torch can’t afford to actually do in a crowded arena.

It’s a bit obsessive, but he ends up leaving the stands and heading back out towards the hallway. He knows this is stupid, that he just is going to end up looking like a crazy stalker, but he can’t push it away. Something in him is going crazy, and he holds back a pained whine in the back of his throat. It’s not even from how uncomfortable he is; it’s from some sort of longing in his stomach that makes his body tremble.

He waits there for around twenty minutes before you head out of the stands. You look a little annoyed  as you shove your cell phone back in your pants pocket, and you throw your beer cup into the garbage can. Immediately he straightens up and heads towards you, his mind running through so many things that he’s not sure what he can actually say. Everything in him just knows that he has to talk to you, that it’s important and that he’s going to pass out if he  _doesn’t_.

His alpha scent alerts you before Johnny even gets that close, and your eyes dart up to stare at him. A small frown forms on your face and for a minute he panics, thinks you’re going to walk away and call out stranger danger. But you still your movements and let him approach, and Johnny has to hold back the sheer glee that seeps through his body. He can smell his own scent getting stronger suddenly and Johnny could almost drown in relief and not care who seen.

“What?” You ask this time, but there’s no anger behind your voice. It sounds tired and annoyed with who was on the other end of the phone, but it’s not pinpointed at him. Your scent wraps around his and you swallow hard, trying to hold your ground as your stomach twists and turns unevenly. You know what this is, you’ve read about it before. It’s all you can do not to crane your neck to the side and reveal your bonding spot to him.

You aren’t stupid; you’ve heard of all the tricks alphas can use, have heard of all the ways the omega body will naturally react to an alpha and their scent. But this is different – you aren’t in heat and he’s not on a rut, but your scents are so saturated that it smells like it. It makes everything in you twist and you know that you want to reach out, to beg him to scent you, that you’ve waited so long for this moment, that the other alphas haven’t meant a damn thing.

And you  _know_  Johnny feels it too because he just stares at you with this dumb smile on his face while his scent grows stronger, and  _oh_  –  _that’s_  why you hadn’t smelled him the second you had run into him. He smelled of ash, motor oil, and a campfire. You had associated it with the arena, with the scent of gasoline burning and tune ups. But this close, you could smell him clearly, and something in your stomach lurched the second Johnny reached out.

His fingers were tentative and froze an inch from your arm, a look of uncertainty slipping onto his features. This wasn’t the Johnny Storm you knew from the news reports and who liked to boast who he was. This was an unsure alpha, staring at his mate that he had waited so long for, and there was something horrifyingly beautiful about the whole situation. He could feel it pumping in his veins, making him want to touch you, could feel his head clearing and his body relaxing. Suddenly he didn’t feel defective, and suddenly he was wishing you two were alone so that he could show you how good of an alpha he could be.

But you don’t let him touch you. Instead, you move away, testing the waters as he’s denied his own omega’s touch. As soon as you see his reaction, you wish that you hadn’t done it. His hand drops back down to his side and he looks hurt, like someone has kicked him hard and pushed him down. There’s a certain wounded look that passes over his face and for a second you swear you see the flashing of fear running over his face. He wants to  _run._ He’s  _humiliated_  that someone doesn’t want him. That his _own_  soulmate doesn’t want him.

It makes your heart absolutely  _twist_  at the beautiful tragedy that is Johnny Storm in that moment.

“I should go,” is all that he can manage to say, and you bite down on your lip as you hear the absolute devastation that’s in his voice.

You reach out, grabbing his hand. It’s like there’s tiny sparks rising up and down your arm, and you quickly pull it away as you realize it’s not a metaphor. Johnny’s staring dumbfounded with little embers playing against his palm, and his mouth opens like he wants to apologize, but he just shuts his mouth and tries to breathe through his nose.

“Don’t go,” you murmur, making your decision without thinking it through anymore. You know what you want and so does your body; it’s like finding yourself with someone that you’ve known for so long. Johnny’s eyes dart up to you, and there’s a flame starting in those baby blues as he reaches out and takes your hand.

This time, the sparks are a metaphor.

* * *

Johnny stumbles backwards into the elevator in the Baxter Tower, his lips meeting yours over and  over again in a searing kiss. His tongue moves along yours, finding every spot that makes your knees weak without much effort; it’s that connection already starting to form, and you know that there’s no turning back from Johnny as the doors close behind you. He smiles against your lips and then bites down lightly on the bottom one, placing a kiss there to soothe away the pain.

His hands are firm on your waist and you can feel his body temperature rising; his hands are warmer than normal and it makes your breath hitch in your throat. His lips move to your neck and then he’s nuzzling your bonding point, a gasp leaving your lips as you run your fingers through his hair, tugging at the soft strands as you keen at the gesture.

“My omega,” he whispers tenderly against your skin, and you can’t help but smile at the soft possessiveness that coats his voice. You’ve been with alphas before, and they’ve never been like this; this is something that comes with an unbreakable bond that makes your body shiver and makes everything in you absolutely ache. It’s devastation at it’s best and you feel your knees go weak as Johnny catches you just as the doors open.

It’s late at night and you’re glad that no one is occupying the floor, a slight flush on your face as Johnny keeps nuzzling at your bonding point, scenting you, his alpha scent moving quickly through the floor. It makes your stomach twist in the best of ways and you just whisper over and over again how good he is, stroking his hair and swallowing hard as you try to hold on, try to keep your head straight.

He kicks the door closed to his room and you find yourself on his soft bed, a smile on your face as he’s following you seconds later. His lips are hard on yours once more, his finger moving up the hem of your shirt as you raise your arms, knowing exactly what the alpha wants. He pulls the material away and discards it somewhere in the room, and you have to laugh at the fact that you have no idea where it goes; Johnny’s got clothes everywhere and he’s so painfully a man that you almost laugh out loud.

His teeth lightly teasing your bonding point though keeps you from doing so, and allows you to sink into the warmth that is Johnny Storm.

* * *

Johnny has a brief moment of fear as you straddle his lap and begin to sink down onto his hard cock. His knot is painfully hard and ready to let go, and he knows that he’s going to go crazy if it doesn’t. But a moment of doubt fills him, the worry that he won’t knot again coming to the forefront of his mind. The thought of letting down his omega and appearing weak or dysfunctional in front of you makes his stomach twist.

He’s heard horror stories about how an omega feels when their alpha can’t knot them, and he’s not true if it’s just about a heat or not, and Johnny doesn’t want to find out. His lips press to yours hard again and he’s trying to force the thoughts from his mind as you begin to rock your hips, soft sighs and moans coming from your perfectly painted lips as you move. Johnny can hear his own moans escaping his throat and can feel his stomach tightening slightly. It gives way though again as fear starts to take over his brain, and he has that brief moment that he knows he should stop you and tell you that there’s something wrong.

But he doesn’t because he doesn’t want this to stop, doesn’t want to feel the horrible rejection again if you walk away.

You cup his cheeks and pull him into another kiss, his hands bracing your hips as he rocks himself up into you as well, matching your pace to get a good, solid pattern going as you whimper loudly above him. Your fingers are tangled in his hair and you’re begging softly, begging for your alpha and for him to knot you and it goes straight to Johnny’s cock as he lets out a loud moan.

He can feel his knot starting to grow; it’s starting to get harder to pull out of you and before he can process what’s happening, he feels himself lock into you as he gives sharp, uneven rocks knowing that he can’t pull all the way out. You let out a soft noise and kiss him for everything he’s worth, stealing his breath away as his fingers drag along your back, feeling everything in his body tense before he falls over the edge, gasping and whimpering and eyes wet as he realizes that he’s knotted for the first time in months, your lips finding his head as you comfort him through your own aftershocks.

* * *

Johnny doesn’t know how long he sits there for. All he knows is that his heartbeat is pounding in his head and everything has turned his limbs to rubber. He can’t move; this has  _got_  to be how Reed feels on a daily basis. You’re just content to be seated on his lap, a comfortable position as you stroke his hair and whisper that he was amazing, that it was perfect, that he’s your alpha and you’re his omega.

You want to say that you want him to claim you, but it’s entirely too soon. You’re not stupid; you know that sometimes mates don’t wind up being what they thought they were supposed to be, what the universe had claimed them to be. The last thing you wanted was yourself tied down to an alpha who had no interest, and that was something that you were firm on.

It was around twenty minutes later when you felt Johnny’s knot go down enough to move, and you carefully slipped free from his lap and to the side of the bed. You stretched out a bit uncomfortably and bit down on your lip, watching the daze that Johnny seemed to be in.

He shook his head quickly though, coming back to the situation as his head began to clear. He shot you a sheepish look before he got up, heading into the bathroom to dispose of the condom and clean himself up.

Closing the door behind him, Johnny stares at himself in the mirror, a dazed grin on his face as he bites down on his lip. He looks down at his knot that’s still half hard but going down, and a sigh of relief escapes him as he runs his fingers through his hair. He lets the scent of you on his skin comfort him as he splashes water on his face before pulling in a slow breath and letting it out, his chest feeling entirely too small for it all.

He leans in the doorway, watching as you sleep peacefully, curled up on your side and with Johnny’s shirt over your body. He pulls in a slow breath and bites down on his lip more, grabbing a pair of boxers from the dresser next to him as quietly as he can be. Pulling them on, he lets out another slow breath before he leans back against the wall.

There’s an emotion that seeps in through his chest and towards his heart, one that he’s had space for for so long but has never filled. He’s tried and he had that fear instilled in him the moment he thought the world was going to end. But there’s something different about you, something that makes his heart beat faster, and he knows he’s going to send Alicia and Ben a fruit basket in the morning.

This was a solution, and he didn’t know if it was temporary. Mates could end up not being what they seemed.

But for now, he was content to crawl in beside you, curl his arm around your waist, and pull you close to his chest. He allows his temperature to rise to a comfortable level as he rests his hand on your stomach, a small smile slipping onto his features.

Maybe he wasn’t broken after all.

Maybe Ben had been right, not that he’s ever going to tell him that.


End file.
